Middleboro to support legal fight against MBTA housing mandate
Middleboro officials are battling the state over MBTA housing requirements. Photo by Anna Milton
MIDDLEBORO — Middleboro has joined the legal battle against the state’s mandate that communities in the MBTA service area allow multi-units housing near MBTA transit areas.
Attorney Jonathan Murray of KP Law, the town’s legal counsel, will draft an amicus brief, also known as a “friend of the court,’’ supporting the Town of Milton in a lawsuit filed by the state, all five select board members agreed at their April 29 meeting. The state is suing over Milton’s refusal to submit a plan to meet the required zoning changes.
This is the latest action in Middleboro’s long-standing opposition to what officials have described as an unfunded mandate and loss of local control.
“I’m ready for a fight,’’ Select Board Chair Mark Germain said.
Adding significant housing units would put a serious strain on the town’s infrastructure, including a potential doubling of student populations which might require new school buildings, Select Board member Brian Giovanoni said.
“What’s going to happen to the rural character of our town?’’ he asked. “Between police and fire and schools, we’re going to see a huge increase in costs. Who’s going to pay for it?’’
He asked Director of Planning and Community Development Leeann Bradley to put together a report on the potential financial impact that the additional housing would have on the town.
Planning Board member Allin Frawley encouraged state officials to “come down here and talk to us. Let’s try to have a conversation.’’
Each community has its own needs and situation, he said. “One size fits all doesn’t fit,’’ he said.
Planning Board member Tracie Craig-McGee compared the Healey administration to the King of England before America won its independence. “The attorney general is saying, We don’t care what you want, we don’t care what your residents say, just shut up.’’
Frawley encouraged Town Manager James McGrail to send a letter to all bordering towns to make officials aware of the actions Middleboro is taking. “We’re all in this together,’’ he said.
PLEASE NOTE: GOVERNOR MAURA HEALEY IS GOVERNOR, NOT ATTORNEY
GENERAL.
GOV. CHARLIE BAKER SIGNED THE BILL - NOT GOV. MAURA HEALEY!
A surprising history of how a bill became the MBTA Communities law
excerpt:
When then-Gov. Charlie Baker signed the bill in January 2021, much of the focus landed on a different zoning measure: a lower, simple-majority threshold for towns to adopt some zoning changes. That's in no small part because Baker had been trying to get that particular measure passed for years. In February 2021, Baker’s housing and economic development secretary Mike Kennealy called that change “the most significant zoning reform in decades.”
The zoning requirements — and the grant eligibility rules — had emerged in a late-night, last-minute compromise between House and Senate lawmakers before the curtain officially closed on their 2019-2020 legislative session. Before Baker signed it, the Massachusetts Municipal Association urged the governor to veto the MBTA Communities language, arguing it would "override local-decision making” and penalize communities that fail to meet the mandate.
But Baker wasn’t swayed. He told lawmakers that while he didn’t propose the section, he would still sign it into law because it gave his administration “considerable discretion to determine compliance.”
And now, three years later, Gov. Maura Healey and her administration are the ones tasked with determining the cost of non-compliance.
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